Coin actuated clockless parking meter



May 30, 1950 H. P. COMPTON com ACTUATED CLOCKLESS PARKING METER 2Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Dec. 16, 1948 39 INVENTOR.

y 0 195.0 H. P. COMPTON 2,50 8

COIN ACTUATED CLOCKLESS PARKING METER Filed Dec. 16, 1948 2 Sheets-Sheet2 INVEN TOR.

BY .Wmflifya.

Patented May 30, 1950 FESI OFF LCEL COIN AGTUATED CLOCKIJE SS PARKINGMETER Henry-Burl Compton, Abilene, Tex.

AnplicationDecember 16, 1948, Serial N 0. 65,560

3-;Glaimsl (Cl. 232-1) This invention relates to parking'meters.

An-object of this invention is to provide a receiver for mounting on acurb for receiving coins deposited bymotorists, the receiver beingprovided'with means whereby an attendant'having-a key may determinewhether a coin -ha-s been deposited and upon removal of the key the coinwill drop into the collector.

In" certain towns -andcities,itis desirable that motorists be chargedfor parking vehicl'esat the curb, and that means be 'provided which maybe produced at small cost and-which willproducean income-at a minimumoperating cost.

While inmany areas employing parking meters it is desirable or necessary*to limit theparking;

time Of a vehicle to a stated period, asfor-exam ple, an hour or halfhour in congested urban localities, in other areas the converse istrue"; For example, in suburban-or village -areas-a large number ofVehicles maypark ina specific locality; as in front oi -the postofficeOI' various stores-in the course of an hour. meters are used thefirstuser to; park "deposits a coin actuating the meter for a specifiedtime "and! all subsequent users during'suchtime may-enioy must deposit acoin regardlessof tlie length of time th space may have ibeenwoccupied bhis predecessor.

With the above and other objects in viewwmy invention consists in" thearrangement, combina-, tion and details of construction disclosed in lthe drawings and-specification;andthBn more particularly pointed out inthe appended claims.

In the drawings,

Figure 1 is a detail front elevation of a parking meter constructedaccording to an embodiment of my invention,

Figure 2 is a fragmentary rear elevation of the upper portion of themeter with the closure in open position,

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of Figure 2,

Figure 4 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of Figure2,

Figure 5 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on the line 5--5 ofFigure 2,

Figure 6 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on the line 6-6 of Figure2.

Referring to the drawings, the numeral I0 deslgnates generally anupright housing formed of a body ll having a front Wall I2, rightangularly If conventional timed disposed side walls l-3, anda top wall[4. Theside walls It converge toward each other'at t'heir lower portionsas shown in Figure l, and an earli'r is formed at the lower portion ofthe housing ID on the opposite sides of which a pair ofears I6 carriedby-a'closur ll, which comprises the rear wall of thehousing; is adaptedto be-pivotally 'IheclOsure in the present instance stationaryancl maybesecured to an upright supportby any suitable 'fasteningmeans, while thehousing is=movable aboutthe pivot l-Sfor the purpose of removing coinsdeposited therein in a manner to i be hereinafter described.

The housing member i l is'adapted to be locked relative-to the closur W,by means of aboltlB carried'by 'a key operated shaft 20; and thebolt I9is adapted to engage in a keeper groove 2| carried by-a keeper lug 22which is fixed to orformed integral with the closure IT; The top "WallI4is formed with a coin slot 23 anda channel-shaped coin guiding chute 2extendsdownwardlyand'inwardlyfrom the slot 2 3i The chut z l includesa"plate25 andan oifset flange 26 which is adapted to be "secured byasiiigle fastening' member 21 to a-lug or projection 21% which iscarried by the" adjacent side wall i F3.

The wall I2 of the housing His formed with an elongated rib 29 which iscurved downwardly and inwardly at its-lower portion, as shown in dottedlines in Figure 2; and forms with thel ower'portion of the chute 25 acoin guiding meansrffor guiding the released coin into an offsetreceiveror chamber tl 'whic'his formed in the lower; portion of the housing l lIn sorder 'to' provide a means whereby" the coin which" i is insertedinto the "slot 23 -w ill be heldagainst dropping into the receiver 3 l Ihave provided a coin holding lug 32 which is carried by a plate 33pivotally mounted on a pivot member 34. The pivot member 34 extendsthrough the inner wall of the chute 24 so that it will form a part ofthe chute for assembly purposes. The holding lug 32 extends through anarcuate slot :35 formed in the lower portion of the chute 24 and whenthe lug 32 is in holding position, this lug will project into the chute24. When the lug 32 is in released position, this lug is adapted to beswung laterally into a slot 36 which is formed in the upper portion ofthe rig l9 (see Fig. 2)..

The front wall 12 of the housing II is formed with a circular window 31which is disposed below the horizontal plane of the lug 32 so that whenthe lug 32 is in coin holding position, the coin engaged thereby willnot be visible through the window 31. The lug 32 with the plate 33 isadapted to be swung laterally to released position by means of areleasing finger 38 which is carried by a key operated shaft 39. Theshaft 39 extends through the front wall I2 of the housing H and thefinger 38 is disposed loosely between a pair of spaced apart lugs it!and 4! which are struck or bent inwardly from the plate 33 below the lug32.

A second coin holding lug s2 is bent forwardly from the plate 33 belowthe lug 32 and the Window 31, and is laterally olfset from the lug 32 sothat when the plate 33 is swung to coin releasing position, lug i2 willbe disposed within the chute 24 and below the window 31. At this timethe coin which was held by the upper or first ing 32 will dropdownwardly and engage the second or lower lug 32. The coin at this timewill be exposed through the window 31.

The shaft 33 with its key mechanism is then rotated to a key releasingposition which also swings the plate 33 to a coin depositing positionwherein the lower lug 42 is moved out of the path of the coin and out ofcoin chute 24, permitting the coin to drop downwardly into the chamberor receiver 3i. In the operation of the device it is contemplated thatan attendant or polic ofiicer be provided with a key for rotating shaft39, and that such individual inspect all meters at regular or irregularintervals. Upon rotation of shaft 39 if a coin is exposed in Window 3?the motorist is considered to be parked legally. If no coin is exposedthe parking is illegal. Since each coin may be exposed only once at thewindow upon rotation of the shaft it will be understood that theduration of even a voluntarily unlawful parking may be determined by theinterval between visits of the attendant. Since no coin will be visibleexcept to the attendant when using the key one proposing to park willhave no way of knowing whether or not a coin is in the meter other thanby depositing one.

In view of the fact that these meters eliminate the spring operated flagmechanism, the meter can be produced at small cost so that a substantialnumber of these meters or collectors may be placed at predeterminedpositions either along the curb or on a parking lot.

I do not mean to confine myself to th exact details of constructionherein disclosed, but claim all variations falling within the purview ofthe appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. A parking meter comprising a housing having a coin slot, a coinguiding chute in said housing extending from said slot, said housing having a window between the ends of said chute, a

coin holding member pivotally carried by said housing projecting intosaid slot adjacent said window for holding an inserted coin againstmovement past said window, a second coin holding member fixed relativeto said first coin holding member positioned below said window wherebyupon movement of said first coin holding member to released position thecoin will be held in a position confronting said window, and a commonoperating means for said coin holding members.

2. A parking meter comprising a housing having a coin slot, a coinguiding chute in said housing extending downwardl from said slot, saidhousing having a window between the ends of said chute, a platepivotally carried by said housing, a coin holding lug carried by saidplate and projecting into said slot for holding a coin above saidwindow, a second coin holding lug carried by said plate disposed belowsaid window and positioned laterally of said first lug, said second lugbeing disposed in released position when said first ing is in operativeposition and adapted to be disposed in operative position within saidchute when said first lug is in released position, and operating meansfor said plate carried b said housing.

3. A parking meter comprising a housing having a coin slot, a coinguiding chute in said housing extending downwardly from said slot, saidhousing having a Window between the ends of said chute, a platepivotally carried by said housing, a coin holding lug carried by saidplate and projecting into said slot for holding a coin above saidwindow, a second coin holding lug carried by said plate disposed belowsaid Window and positioned laterally of said first lug, said second lugbeing disposed in released position-when said first lug is in operativeposition and adapted to be disposed in operative position withinsaidchute when said first lug is in released position, a pair of parallellugs extending from said plate, a plate operating arm engaging betweensaid pair of lugs, and key operated means connected with said arm forswinging the latter.

HENRY PURL COMPTON.

REFERENCES CETED The following references are of record in the

